The Influence of Emergency Call Volume on Occupational Workload and Sleep Quality in Urban Firefighters

Details

• Personal Author:
  Abel MG ; Gribble PA ; Heebner NR ; Jelmini JD ; Whitehurst LN
• Description:
  Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the impact of emergency call volume on exertion, autonomic activity, and sleep among urban structural firefighters. Methods: Thirty-four firefighters wore a wrist-based monitor to track sleep and autonomic parameters and rated their level of perceived exertion (Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion) and subjective sleepiness after a 24-hour shift. Predictive variables included total run time and total run time after 11:59 PM. Results: Total run time and sleep duration accounted for Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion and subjective sleepiness, while total run time and total run time after 11:59 PM accounted for sleep durations on-duty. Conclusions: The current results suggest that emergency call volume is associated with indicators of exertion and sleep. As such, call volume tracking is an important consideration for departments to ensure personnel readiness and wellness and provide a method of tracking the occupational demands experienced by firefighters on-duty. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular System Emergency Responders Firefighters Occupational Health Safety Shift Work Schedule Sleep
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Autonomic Nervous System Autonomic Nervous System Emergency Responder Emergency Responders Fire Fighters Heart Rate Heart Rate Variability Shift Work
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069580
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2024 Jul; 66(7):580-589
• Contact Point Address:
  Jacob D. Jelmini, MS, LAT, ATC, CSCS, Sports Medicine Research Institute, 720 Sports Center Drive, Lexington, KY 40506
• Email:
  jacob.jelmini@uky.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  University of Kentucky, Lexington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20120701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20240630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5d06733a0b8b8704b3dbeb293609dbf01e19e3fb0f0a2dfa4dafd65dbe53f6666528e8976d23c9a3daa89b902834be7dbf63dfd00371dd182f1e18d008be517a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207987/cdc_207987_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 201.42 KB ]